Memorare Manila 1945

Sculpted by Peter de Guzman, the monument’s main feature is the figure of a hooded woman slumped on the ground in great despair for the lifeless child she cradles in her arms. Six suffering figures surround her, a glimpse of the great despair brought about by the gruesome massacres that were inflicted by Imperial Japanese soldiers on civilians during the liberation of the city.

A monument located in Intramuros in memory of over 100,000 civilian deaths during the liberation of Manila.

The inscription on the base was penned by Nick Joaquin, National Artist for Literature: “This memorial is dedicated to all those innocent victims of war, many of whom went nameless and unknown to a common grave, or never even knew a grave at all, their bodies having been consumed by fire or crushed to dust beneath the rubble of ruins.

Let this monument be a gravestone for each and every one of the over 100,000 men, women, children and infants killed in Manila during its battle of liberation, Feb. 3 to March 3, 1945. We have never forgotten them. Nor shall we ever forget.

May they rest in peace as part now of the sacred ground of this city: The Manila of our affection. February 18, 1995.”.